Uncategorised – Hooper Knight – Workbenches, Storage Benches & Mobile Workbenches Storehttp://hooperknight.co.uk
We specialise in customized projects and supplying a wide range of quality productsMon, 19 Jun 2017 08:33:27 +0000en-GBhourly1Why you should review your site safety policies for 2016http://hooperknight.co.uk/why-you-should-review-your-site-safety-policies-for-2016/
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 18:30:27 +0000http://hooperknight.co.uk/?p=5060Every workplace has its own dangers. The more employees and equipment you have, the more dangerous it can become. However, many accidents that occur throughout the year in the UK can be avoided. Unfortunately, many organisations don’t prioritise workplace safety and pay dearly for this mistake. Putting in place the appropriate safety measures greatly reduces…

Every workplace has its own dangers. The more employees and equipment you have, the more dangerous it can become. However, many accidents that occur throughout the year in the UK can be avoided.

Unfortunately, many organisations don’t prioritise workplace safety and pay dearly for this mistake. Putting in place the appropriate safety measures greatly reduces the risk of injuries to employees, fatalities and damage to equipment. These are some good reasons why you should review your site safety policies for 2016.

It Creates a Safer Work Environment

It may sound obvious but reviewing your site safety policies will make your organisation a safer place to work in 2016. Workplaces change over a year. You may have expanded, employed more people, bought new equipment or diversified into other business activities. This means many of the policies that were applicable to your business last year may now be redundant. If change has taken place, your site safety policies have to be updated too. Adequate first aid equipment, fire prevention procedures, safety walkways and other safety related features should all be considered for your current workplace conditions.

You Retain Employees

Many industries find it difficult to hire skilled staff. When you do find these people, you want to retain their services for as long as possible. However, if you don’t review and implement the appropriate safety policies in your business, these people will often decide to leave and work in another organisation that takes safety seriously. Involving staff in the safety aspect of a business is a clear way to demonstrate how serious your company is about the well-being of its employees.

You Have a More Productive Workplace

A knock-on effect of this buy-in from staff is a more productive, efficient workforce. When people feel they are respected they are more likely to work harder and take less sick leave. Work place injuries are also reduced which leads to more productivity and less claims for compensation for accidents.

Helps Maintain a Good Reputation

A business that’s safe to work in attracts better employees and is trusted more by other businesses. However, if you fail to review and improve your site safety policies, this can reflect badly on you and your organisation.

A bad reputation has the potential to attract the wrong kind of attention. If word gets out that your business is not following its safety obligations, it can lead to frequent safety checks and audits by safety authorities. In the worst case scenario your business could be shut down until all site safety policies are reviewed and updated.

Keeps you in Business

Ultimately, you want to stay in business. However, if you rarely review safety policies or don’t review them at all, there is a greater likelihood your business could be shut down. This is something that can be avoided, but often it’s not addressed until it’s too late.

Every business is set up to make money. Not reviewing your site safety policies for 2016 could have many financial implications for your business. Workplace injuries, non-productive time and the other factors above can all impact on the future of your business, so it’s vital to review your site safety policies and reduce these risks.

]]>Manufacturing trends for 2016: customers call the shotshttp://hooperknight.co.uk/manufacturing-trends-for-2016-customers-call-the-shots/
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 18:20:19 +0000http://hooperknight.co.uk/?p=5058Cognizant’s head of innovation, manufacturing and logistics – explores the key trends facing industry over the coming 12 months. 2015 has been a year where embedded technologies enabled manufactured products to be more “informed”; new stakeholders with innovative products and services entered the ecosystem; traditional supply chains have been disrupted through new channel options; and,…

Cognizant’s head of innovation, manufacturing and logistics – explores the key trends facing industry over the coming 12 months.

2015 has been a year where embedded technologies enabled manufactured products to be more “informed”; new stakeholders with innovative products and services entered the ecosystem; traditional supply chains have been disrupted through new channel options; and, above all, customers demanded an ever-increasing level of customization, not just in products and services, but also across the entire procurement and product usage experience.

It’s time to look at what 2016 holds in store for us:

Consumerisation

Consumers’ buying behaviour is changing and today, it’s not just items such as clothes and electronics that are purchased online; often, the process of buying a car starts with online research.

Buyers used to speak to dealers and then make their decision, whereas now, a lot of the background work is happening online before ever reaching the dealership.

Car dealers have long been aware of this trend, and are working with car manufacturers to make the most of this trend. Some car manufactures, for example, have made creative use of augmented reality (AR) to establish virtual dealerships for potential car buyers to experience the ‘look-and-feel’ of a vehicle before purchase. As a result of the proliferation of consumer devices, there’s a step change in expectations in B2B environments as, ultimately, it is the user experience taking centre stage.

Connected cars and infotainment

A study suggested that a rise in the number of connected cars will see “the value of the global market for connectivity components and services” reach “€170 billion by 2020”.

For many, the car is now turning into an extension of the home, with drivers’ digital, social and mobile habits – underpinned by technology advances – being integrated into the vehicle. Cars are turning into an extension of homes, with drivers’ digital, social and mobile habits being integrated into the vehicle
This trend is set to continue next year with car manufacturers keen to take advantage of monetisation opportunities around the connected car, not least by taking demographic tastes and needs into consideration, and applying these to the vehicles.

Through the use of sensors – which deliver data for analysis, the connected car provides yet another opportunity to understand driver characteristics, their needs, the features they might appreciate, while introducing an additional layer of safety.

Robotics and automation

Automation has started to infiltrate a number of industry sectors – from banking and insurance, to healthcare and manufacturing – to various degrees with increasing impact.

In fact, a recent study found that roughly 50% of respondents see automation as significantly improving processes over the next few years:

As a result, automotive and vehicle manufacturers too have increasingly begun to make use of automation and automated process in a number of situations.

For example through Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), vehicle manufacturers are able to move to the next stage of autonomous driving, and we will see an increase in the use of this technology.

Secondly, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, another major enabler of autonomous driving.

For example, if there is a traffic incident ahead, current navigation systems offer a diversion around the traffic incident.

Thirdly, there are autonomous trucks which can provide relief to the driver during long-haul journeys and finally, autonomous drones will be increasingly used to inspect land and railways tracks, as well as aiding yard and inventory management.

]]>Why Britain will build more than 2m cars a year by 2020http://hooperknight.co.uk/why-britain-will-build-more-than-2m-cars-a-year-by-2020why-britain-will-build-more-than-2m-cars-a-year-by-2020/
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:02:33 +0000http://hooperknight.co.uk/?p=5026The UK car industry is on track to build more than 2 million cars a year for the first time in its history by 2020, a new report reveals. If the forecast is accurate, that would surpass the 1.92m car production total achieved in 1972, when Britain’s most popular car was the Ford Cortina. And…

The UK car industry is on track to build more than 2 million cars a year for the first time in its history by 2020, a new report reveals.

If the forecast is accurate, that would surpass the 1.92m car production total achieved in 1972, when Britain’s most popular car was the Ford Cortina. And that could mean a deluge of employment, with an extra 9500 direct and 28,000 indirect jobs to man ever-busier factories, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

What’s driving the increase in UK car production?

All the major car making groups have announced investments in the past two years, according to SMMT chief executive. A total of £2 billion has been announced in 2015 alone, he said, and the UK is already the third biggest manufacturing nation in Europe after Germany and Spain.

Nissan’s Sunderland factory, which builds Qashqais, Jukes and Leafs (Leaves?) in record numbers, now produces more vehicles than the whole of Italy, believe it or not. But while Vauxhall, Nissan and some Japanese car makers assemble cars at some scale, it is in fact the growth of premium vehicle manufacturing which should drive the records, the SMMT claims.

‘As recently as 2010, premium cars made up 37% of UK car production – and we predict that will rise to 54% by 2020.

Happy days!

Indeed. This is a forecast though, remember. And the SMMT has already got it wrong once. Rewind back to 2012 and they predicted that the UK would pass the 2m production milestone by the end of 2015. Last year that figure was in fact 1.5m…

]]>Blackpool Rocks Volume 2: TVR sells out first year of productionhttp://hooperknight.co.uk/blackpool-rocks-volume-2-tvr-sells-out-first-year-of-production/
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:02:10 +0000http://hooperknight.co.uk/?p=5025Following hot on the heels of news that sports car brand TVR is making a comeback in 2017, the company has said it’s sold out the first year of production in just six weeks. It has taken 250 deposits of £5000 on the next generation of models. Putting money down early has secured one of the…

Following hot on the heels of news that sports car brand TVR is making a comeback in 2017, the company has said it’s sold out the first year of production in just six weeks.

It has taken 250 deposits of £5000 on the next generation of models. Putting money down early has secured one of the first new TVRs to be built – and owners club members were allowed to jump on the queue for just £2500. Hence the company has raised a handy nest egg of at least £625,000 to help develop its new models.

It’s been nearly a decade since the Blackpool-based tearaways ceased building their outrageous coupes and roadsters, but a new ownership consortium has now confirmed that it will re-start production in 2017. In a wide-ranging announcement, Les Edgar, the chairman of TVR who bought the rump of the company from Russian Nikolai Smolenski in 2013, revealed:

TVRs will be built in Britain from 2017

‘At least four new models’ under development

Engineering collaboration with Gordon Murray Design

V8 engines from Cosworth

Priced and designed like TVRs of old

Production starts ‘in the hundreds’ in 2017

£5000 deposits taken from 7 July 2015

New dealer network being built up

Operations director John Chasey said: ‘We’ve been totally blown away by the reaction to the new car. Our phonelines and online inquiry system went into meltdown when the news was announced, and we decided that we must begin to bring a structure to the inquiries and build a delivery pipeline well in advance of production. Volumes in year one will be limited as we ramp up production, so this allows us to reward those individuals prepared to make a financial commitment at this early stage.’

]]>UK Spaceporthttp://hooperknight.co.uk/uk-spaceport/
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:00:54 +0000http://hooperknight.co.uk/?p=5021In July 2014, the UK Government announced its intention to build a Spaceport, which will enable take-off and landing of reusable space vehicles, such as Skylon and Virgin Galactic. Key factors to be taken into consideration include: an existing runway which is – or is capable of being extended to – more than 3000 metres in…